Save Tonight
by 7thxheavenxx
Summary: Degrassi is excited when Craig Manning is brought in as the musical guest at the prom. When Katie tells him about her drama with Jake, he does what he can to help them enjoy prom. One-shot.


**A/N- Takes place during Season 12's "Time Of Your Life". **

* * *

Excitement roamed the halls of Degrassi after Principal Simpson announced he pulled a few strings and managed to convince alumni Craig Manning to play at the prom. At least half the school was familiar with his music and the other half was just excited they would get to see a celebrity.

"So who is this Craig Manning and why should we be excited to see him?" Marisol raised her eyebrow. She never listened to the genre of music Craig played so she had never heard of him.

"Um 'Thong Girl, Wrong Girl'?" Katie named one of his songs to see if it rang a bell. "Remember it was revealed that it was about that actress Manny Santos who went here also?"

"No idea," Marisol shook her head.

Katie and Marisol sat at a table with a jar. Everybody who wanted a chance to meet Craig had to write their name on a slip of paper and one lucky person would get to meet him after his performance. Others would win merchandise like shirts, cds, hats and other stuff. Despite being in the running herself to meet him, she wasn't too excited about prom. She would be dateless and it was just another painful reminder of how she screwed up things with her ex-boyfriend Jake. Mo already confirmed Jake would be there but he didn't have a date of his own. She was at least happy she wouldn't have to see him with another girl.

"So my dad's giving me the money to pick out my dress after school. We should go together," Marisol suggested.

"Sure," Katie muttered. She was preoccupied with watching Jake and Jenna who were together on their way over to put their names in the drawing.

"Ask him to prom. He's dateless and he still has feelings for you. Maybe he won't be able to resist," Marisol pushed.

"Despite us being friends again I can barely get a hello out of him Mar. It's probably best I just move on," Katie replied.

When Jake and Jenna arrived at the table Katie stayed silent. Marisol said hi to them. Jake said hello, but Jenna still held a grudge over K.C. cheating with her and didn't greet her back. Marisol just rolled her eyes. After they put their names in the jar they walked away. Katie wasn't planning on talking to him, but something inside her pushed her to call out his name.

"Jake," Katie called out.

Jake stopped to look at her. Jenna just kept walking which made Katie happy. "So Mo said you're going to prom."

Jake nodded. "Yeah, it means a lot to him and I don't exactly have anything better to do on Saturday."

"Maybe we can be each others dates?" Katie proposed.

Jake shook his head. "I don't think that would be such a good idea Katie."

"Oh okay," Katie spit out and turned to walk away.

* * *

The next night it was prom night. Katie wasn't exactly having a good time. Mo was scared he would never see Jake again, and Marisol was irritated that she wasn't getting any attention from him. She had hoped she could have a good time with just Marisol, but she was endlessly complaining the whole night.

"I'm going to go get some punch," Katie excused herself. Owen followed her over to the punch bowl.

"Hey. You having a good time?" Owen asked.

"Not really. You?" Katie replied.

"Same. Since we're both here alone, do you want to dance?" Owen offered.

Katie thought about her options. Either go listen to Marisol whine, or dance once with Owen. "Sure."

They danced to the next song that played. Once it was over Craig got on stage and played a new song Katie had never heard before. It was an upbeat break-up song and the lyrics fit perfectly about her situation with Jake. She thought he was amazing and was captivated by how good his music was. After Craig finished performing, Fiona came on stage for the drawing to see who would be the lucky person to meet him. Katie knew she didn't have a chance since over one-hundred students put their name in the drawing.

"Alright Degrassi! This is the moment we have all been waiting for. Who will be the lucky person to meet Craig Manning? If you don't win, don't worry! There will be other memorabilia that you all will have a chance to win throughout the night! Alright Mr. Simpson, pull a name of out of the jar," Fiona spoke. Mr. Simpson handed her a peice of paper.

Fiona opened the piece of paper. "And the big winner is Katie Matlin!"

The crowd cheered and Katie stood their frozen. She couldn't believe she had just won. She smiled as the people around here were congratulating her. The butterflies were bouncing in her stomach as she had no idea what she would even say to him. She had thought about it earlier but she didn't think it would happen.

"Katie go with Mr. Simpson and she will take you to Craig," Fiona said.

Principal Simpson took her to a room where he was putting his equipment away. He was the only one in there, but for security purposes Simpson stayed in the room with them.

"Hello there," Craig reached out to shake her hand.

"Hi," Katie sort of froze. "I'm Katie Matlin. I'm a huge fan of yours. I've been listening to you since I was in middle school."

"Thank you. I'm glad you've been a fan for so long. What did you think of my new song? It's going to be on my new album that will be released this summer," Craig wondered.

"Honestly it touched me. I'm going through a break-up right now. It was my fault and I don't think there is anyway I can fix it," Katie sighed. She then realized she was going on about her problems to Craig. "I'm so sorry. I know high school drama is probably the last thing you care about."

Craig laughed. "Relax. It wasn't that long ago that I was at Degrassi going through the same things. Believe me I've been through my share of relationship hell. So what happened if you don't mind me asking?"

She felt awkward telling her story with Simpson in the room, but this was the only chance she would ever have in life to talk to Craig so she didn't care if he judged her. "I stupidly went to Vegas and gambled away all of my college money. Someone offered me enough cash to make up for what I lost if I spent time with them so I lied to Jake. It turned out the guy wanted sex so I left. He found out and was mad, so I figured I had nothing to lose and went back, but nothing happened."

"Wow the drama at Degrassi hasn't changed much," Craig joked. "Really though I think you can be forgiven. You didn't sleep with the guy."

"We talked afterwards and we're friends again. I just don't think we'll ever be together again and it sucks," Katie said.

"Is Jake here? Can I meet him?" Craig asked.

"Y-yeah," Katie stuttured. "He's somewhere out there."

Craig sent Simpson to go get him. Katie was scared that if he knew she was talking about it to Craig he would just get angry, but she was out of options.

Simpson walked in with Jake who was excited that he was actually getting to meet him. "Mr. Manning, it's so nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Craig replied. "Katie has told me a lot about you."

Jake side-eyed her. "Good things I hope?"

Craig smiled. "She was telling me about what is going on with you guys right now. Honestly I'm really the last person who should be giving relationship advice, but you guys are at your senior prom. You won't ever get this night back. Whether you two get back together is up to you guys but take advantage of this night. Some of the memories of my high school relationships are the ones I cherish the most and are the inspiration for a lot of my songs. Despite all the pain and heartache I look back at it all today and smile. Sometimes I wish I can relive it again."

Katie spoke up. "I don't expect that we will get back together, but if we could dance tonight it would make me really happy."

Jake cracked a smile. Whether it was the atmosphere of prom or something else he didn't know, but he wanted to hold Katie Matlin badly. He walked over and put his arms around her waist. "I don't know what's going to happen once we walk across the stage, but at least we have tonight."

Katie's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Jake leaned in for a kiss. "Really. We should go out and dance before it's too late."

"Thank you," Katie thanked Craig. "I don't think this would have happened without your help."

"I'm glad it worked out. Go enjoy your night," Craig smiled. After they walked out he pulled out a picture of him and Ashley from her fathers wedding out of his wallet. He flipped it around and read the back.

_"We haven't been in touch in a while. I'm sure your busy. I found this buried in a bunch of boxes and was feeling nostalgic. Call me when you get a chance, I'd love to hear from you. Xoxo, Ashley."_


End file.
